Pressure Mounts on Hawaii in Race to Top: Grant promises prove heavy lift

By Michele McNeil, Education Week Dec 14, 2011 (excerpts)

Kate Walsh, the president of the Washington-based National Center for Teacher Quality, said during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event in October that if Hawaii doesn't lose its Race to the Top money for teacher-evaluation failures, "something is wrong." And even though other states are pushing back deadlines, Hawaii's slow start to its teacher-evaluation piece "is the most egregious," said Charles Barone, of the Democrats for Education Reform, a New York-based political action committee, in an interview....

In the second round of last year's Race to the Top competition, Hawaii was one of 10 winners, and the clear dark horse. In fact, Education Department officials were in a "near-panic" when Hawaii won and other favored states, including Colorado and Louisiana, were left out of the winners' circle after outside peer reviewers had scored all the applications, according to a recent book about education reform by journalist Steven Brill. ("Book: 'Near Panic' Over Race to Top," Aug. 31, 2011.) …

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Book: Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools

WE TOLD YOU HSTA WOULD KILL RTTT:

• RTTT “farce”? HSTA, progressives already scheming to fudge accountability requirements
• HSTA using furloughs to keep “Race to the Top” dollars—and reform--out of Hawaii schools

Related Ed Week Stories

• "Race to the Top: When Should We Ask for Our Money Back?,"(Politics K-12 Blog) October 21, 2011.
• “Bill Comes Due on Race to Top's Varied Goals,”September 28, 2011.
• “Race to Top Winners Feel Heat on Teacher Evaluations,”September 14, 2011.